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by Jake Twining
It was just 12 short days ago when then #20 UNLV took on the #10 Boise State Broncos with a spot in the College Football Playoff on the line. Falling short by a score of 21-7, a lot has happened in Las Vegas since, starting with the departure of Head Coach Barry Odom, who accepted a deal to become Purdue’s next head coach. To counter this departure, UNLV signed former Florida and Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen to a 5-year, $17.5 million contract. Despite neither of the two coaching this game, the Rebels were led by Wide Receivers coach Del Alexander.
The first quarter started with three consecutive three and out drives. The Golden Bears offense, led by Jadyn Ott’s 48 yard run, capped off by a 43 yard field goal from Derek Morris. The Rebels quickly responded with a scoring drive of their own, capped off by a 49 yard touchdown pass from Hajj Malik Williams to Kayden McGee. The Rebels lead did not hold for long, as Cal responded with a touchdown drive of their own. Following a couple big first down conversions by QB CJ Harris and TE Jack Endries, Josiah Martin took an end-around sweep 29 yards for the touchdown to put Cal up 10-7 in the waning seconds of the first quarter.
The second quarter got off to an exciting start, that saw Rebels punter Marshall Nichols convert a fake punt on a jump pass to Cameron Oliver, who took the pass 52 yards inside the Golden Bears’ red zone. The Rebels converted on the next play when Jacob De Jesus took a 9 yard pass from Hajj Malik Williams for the touchdown to put them up 14-10. Cal’s next drive saw them drive inside UNLV’s 30 yard line, before Derek Morris hooked a 41 yard field goal attempt. They held UNLV to a punt on the ensuing drive, and once again drove down field. Josiah Martin had two big pickups on a 3rd and 4th down to keep the drive alive, but the Golden Bears only came away with 3 points after a goal line stand from the Rebels D. The Rebels took a 14-13 lead into the half despite Cal having the edge in total yards and time of possession.
The 3rd quarter of the LA Bowl was a back and forth exchange of punts, beginning with the Cal offense going three and out. David De Jesus’s punt return set the Rebels up in Bears territory, where they failed to capitalize, going three and out as well. Cal’s next possession started with promise, but was quickly derailed by a holding penalty and a sack, leading to another punt. The Rebels ensuing drive started with a 29 yard pass from Williams to De Jesus, but also ended in another punt. Cal’s next drive resulted in yet another punt. UNLV’s next drive ended in the 8th straight punt combined between the teams. It wasn’t until Cal’s next drive that the punt streak ended, when CJ Harris threw a backward pass that was recovered by the Rebels. Starting at Cal’s 23, Kylin James took the carry on the first play of the drive for 6, putting the Rebels up 21-13 with just under 3 minutes to go in the quarter. The Cal offense took over after the UNLV score, running their way to a couple first downs to end the 3rd quarter.
The 4th quarter began with Cal’s starting QB, CJ Harris, exiting the game, and EJ Caminong coming in. A couple incompletions led to yet another Cal punt. The Rebels, backed up deep in their territory following a Cal punt, started getting their run game going on the next drive. Once crossing into Cal territory, however, the offense went stale and was forced to punt it back to Cal, up 8 with just under 10 minutes to go. Cal’s offense once again went three and out. Jacob DeJesus returned the Cal punt 38 yards, setting up the UNLV offense at the Cal 26. The drive went backwards for the Rebels, who settled for a 48 yard field goal, which was converted by freshman kicker Caden Chittenden, giving the Rebels a 24-13 lead with 6 minutes left in the game. Cal’s offense was held on a 4th and 8 inside Rebels territory with 4 minutes to go in regulation. The Golden Bears burned through their timeouts and got the ball back with three and a half minutes to go. Again, Cal drove into UNLV territory only to turn it over on downs, ending the game.
The final score of the Art of Sport LA Bowl Hosted by Gronk remained 24-13 in favor of the UNLV Rebels. Our JPWest Media Player of the Game is WR/KR Jacob DeJesus, who finished the game with 2 receptions for 38 yards and a receiving touchdown and an average of 25 yards per punt return (3 punt returns, 75 yards).
